It's official: Foles gets starting nod

Eagles quarterback Nick Foles reaches over goal line for a 4-yard touchdown run in first quarter of the Birds’ win over the Washington Redskins two weeks ago. Tuesday, Foles was officially name the Eagles’ starter. (Times Staff / ERIC HARTLINE)

At the least it temporarily ends those weekly and often contentious exchanges between Kelly and the media over the starting job.

Everyone knew the announcement was coming, including Michael Vick, slated to back up Foles this Sunday when the Eagles (6-5) entertain the underdog Arizona Cardinals (7-4).

Kelly did have a little fun when asked by a reporter who apparently hasn’t seen a lot of Eagles games how naming the starter would benefit the other 10 players in the huddle.

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“We don’t huddle,” Kelly said to a chorus of laughter. “I think this team just wants to win football games. I don’t think they get caught up in that. They’ve got a lot of confidence in Nick, they’ve got a lot of confidence in Mike.”

The notification process was quick and painless.

“I just went in and he told me the situation, that I was the ‘1’ and Mike was the ‘2’ and let’s go,” Foles said of his meeting with Kelly. “It’s really not like drawn out like in movies where it’s like a big thing where you sit down and there’s like tears with everybody. I walked in. We talked a little about the Oregon-Arizona game. He just told me the situation.”

Arizona, where Foles matriculated, crushed Kelly’s Oregon this past weekend. While no one saw that coming, Vick, whose hamstring is close to 100 percent, made it clear Foles was deserving of the starting job based on the way he played.

“I see things before they happen,” Vick said. “You can’t be naďve. You’ve got to understand the situation. You’ve got to see and just know that the most important thing for me to do is try to be there and support the team. I didn’t want to make this a hard decision for coach. I didn’t want to make it a hard decision for anybody, for myself. I can’t be frustrated about it. I just wanted it to be a smooth transition. And it was. Coach Kelly, when we sat down, he didn’t even have to say much. We’re always on the same page and I think you have to be that way with your head coach.”

Kelly said he didn’t feel compelled to name a starter until both Foles and Vick were healthy. Both missed games due to assorted injuries.

The bottom line is the Eagles are 4-1 with Foles in the driver’s seat and 2-4 with Vick leading the way.

While Vick was hurt, Foles wrapped staggering numbers around a poor outing resulting in a 17-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, who lead the NFC East based on that head-to-head tiebreaker.

Foles earned a piece of the single-game NFL record by dropping seven touchdown passes on the Oakland Raiders.

Foles sparked the Birds to a 27-13 road triumph over the Green Bay Packers, the only winning team the Eagles have beaten this year.

Two weeks ago Foles guided the Eagles to a 24-16 win over the Washington Redskins, snapping a franchise-record 10-game home losing streak.

Foles leads the league with a 128.0 passer rating, largely the result of throwing 16 scoring passes without an interception. His 152.8 rating in November is the highest in any month in league history for passers with a minimum of 48 attempts.

“I said the other day I think he’s done a great job of protecting the football and not putting us in bad situations,” Kelly said. “We have a shot. He’s got a great command of what we’re doing. He’s a lot more comfortable with what we’re doing. It’s kind of an ongoing process.”

Kelly said he told Vick the same thing he explained to Foles after the youngster finished as first runner-up in the quarterback competition coming out of training camp.

“He’s a chin strap away from having to go in again,” Kelly said. “Mike wants to contribute in any way he can. That’s the type of guy he is. He’s a great teammate, a great leader. We’ve got a good situation. We’ve got two quarterbacks who have won games in the NFL. And I think you need both of them.”

While Foles insists his approach to the game won’t change now that he’s the starter, his remark about the lack of drama during the meeting in which he was officially named the guy was revealing.

So was the 24-year-old Foles’ innocent comment about Vick’s help throughout training camp and the regular season.

“It’s been great for me to look up to an older guy and see how he’s handled this whole situation,” Foles said of the 33-year-old Vick.

Foles also was candid about what he felt he had to do to keep the starting quarterback job.

“Win. That’s it,” Foles said. “You can do all the stats you want but the most important thing is winning the games and putting your team in position to win games.”